Paso Diablo Mine

the Paso Diablo Mine is the largest coal mine in Venezuela.

Mining Operations
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) listed the mine in 2006 as being a joint venture between Carbozulia S.A. with a 49% stake and Peabody Energy and Anglo Coal with a 25.5% stake each. The mine is located near Paso Diablo in Zulia State in the Guasare coal basin and has a rated production capacity of 8 million tonnes a year.

Peabody Energy, which refers to the mine as the Paso Diablo Mine, states on its website that the mine "is a 6.6 to 8.0 million ton-per-year surface operation that exports coal for electricity generators and steelmakers in North America and Europe. Paso Diablo utilizes the truck-shovel method to access approximately 175 million tonnes of reserves (in the current coal concession) in the Guasare coal basin ... Most coal travels approximately 90 kilometers to the port at Santa Cruz de Mara on Lake Maracaibo ... Peabody markets a proportional amount of the mine's output to customers of seaborne coal seeking high-Btu, low sulfur thermal coal for electricity generation and PCI coal for use in steel production."

Despite a production capacity of 8 million tonnes per annum, in its 2008 annual report Peabody Energy reported that "the Paso Diablo Mine produced approximately 4.8 million tons of steam coal in 2008 for export to the U.S. and Europe. During 2008, the Paso Diablo Mine contributed $5.7 million to segment Adjusted EBITDA in “Corporate and Other Adjusted EBITDA” and paid a dividend of $19.9 million. At December 31, 2008, our investment in Paso Diablo was $54.2 million."

Later in the report, the company explained that the reduced profit from its Venezuela interest was primarily caused by " trucking issues experienced earlier in the year, a temporary shortage of explosives and delays in receiving equipment, which impacted operations."

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